One of the things I love about prolonged stays in new locations is discovering off-the-path things. Today, exactly one week before I have to leave, I found what may be the best view of Paris I’ve ever seen. All in a place I’ve been to many, many times: Printemps.

Originally, we wanted to eat at under the dome, but the wait was over forty minutes. Luckily, the hostess told us about the Terrace Cafe. Because it’s located in the “Home” building of the Printemps complex, we’d never heard of it, but we trekked over to the other building and up to the ninth floor. Upon stepping off the escalator, Bug and I were disappointed. The Dome restaurant has sit down service and this was…a cafeteria?

Since we were all starving, we decided to give it a shot and took the boys out onto the terrace to find a seat.

WHOA.

The first thing I saw was this:

While it looks tiny in this picture, in person, it feels so close you can touch it.

Next was this:

The Opéra and Printemps famous dome.

There were also views of the Champs Élysées, Sacré Couer, the Panthéon, Musée d’Orsay, and a million other things. It was like being in the heart of Paris, with everything within reach. And the food was very good. Not as good as the Dome, but still tasty.

7:30am – Wake up. The Fox has a follow-up doctors appointment to make sure his arm is healing properly.

8:15am – Bug and The Fox leave, the other two boys and I think about breakfast.

8:20am – I send the boys to the patisserie for torsade and pain au chocolate. None of which I can eat 😦

9am – Shower and get dressed.

9:30am – Work a little while the boys play.

10:45 – Bug and the Fox return with good news! His arm is healing perfectly and he can fly home next week!

12:00pm – Leave for lunch

12:30 -3:00 – Lunch and shopping. We had to buy a LARGE suitcase because we’ve completely replaced my wardrobe while here. There’s a chance we may have to buy another.

3:15 – BUSTED by the Paris Metro Police for fare jumping. Boone didn’t use his ticket to get into the Metro and upon exiting, there was a checkpoint. Even though we had unused, paid tickets, we were still fined 30 euro on the spot. HARSH.

3:45 – Home. Bug does a little work and then we hang out while the boys play.

5:00pm – Bug goes to the grocery store while I play with the boys and swear at my phone because my email isn’t working.

6:30pm – Dinner for the boys. Wine for mom and dad 😀

7:00pm – Bug and the boys play poker while I work a little more.

8:00pm – Boys to bed, dinner for the adults.
This may be my new favorite picture:

Full confession: Liam, the hair stylist with the captivating chest hair, is one of the most gorgeous people I’ve ever seen. Alas, he’s maybe twenty-five and gay, but OH MY, OH MY. Today, he had a lovely five o’clock shadow, something I’ve always been a huge fan of (Bug is very indulgent and leaves his face scruffy for me), and the tightest, skinny cord pants I’ve ever seen a man pour himself in to. *Sigh* Maybe in my next life, I’ll live out my fantasy of dating skinny rocker guys. I wish I had had the courage to ask him for a picture, but it felt weird.

Anyway, he decided he LOVED my strawberry blond hair. He kept saying how hard it is to get a color like mine and was I positive that I wanted to change it, because really, it would be a shame. Eventually, he decided to “tie and die” it. He darkened the roots slightly, backcombed the ends, and then put a lighter shade on those. The middle he left as is. The result is cool. The pictures aren’t great because I was trying to hold my phone over my head.

After he finished drying it, he decided that I need to grow out my “fringe” and stop hiding my “gorgeous, huge, olive green eyes.” I just about died laughing. I’ve never heard anyone call my eyes olive green before (if you haven’t read Larkstorm, both Lark and Beck have olive green eyes – Mary Sue much???). He also decided that I needed a trim, but no layers and nothing short because “Long is sexy.”

So this is what I have:

Blonde on the ends

It’s darker on the top and more golden red.

Completely unrelated – the other night Bug and I came across this bridge behind Notre Dame. Couples write their names on a lock and attach it to the bridge. From a distance, it looks like the railings are strung with hundreds of glittering lights.

Love Locks

Speaking of Bug, he’s on his way back to San Francisco for the weekend. He’ll be back on in Paris Monday. My plans for this weekend include revising Nightingale, revising Nightingale, and…oh revising Nightingale. The only other plan I have is seeing my therapist on Saturday. I suppose it seems odd that I flew all the way to Paris and have a therapist I see twice a week, but I’m thankful my husband found her. She’s helping me feel a little less crazy, and while I still have horrible anxiety and not-the-greatest thoughts, I am learning how to cope in better ways.

Speaking of my therapist, here’s a picture of the Arch de Triumph on the Champs Elysee. Her office is located there and Bug stood in traffic trying to snap this picture for me the other day.